Built last year, the Family Dollar sits on an acre along the west side of Elvis Presley Boulevard north of its intersection with Winchester Road.

In conjunction with the purchase, the buyer filed a $1.1 million deed of trust through BancorpSouth Bank. John Young signed the deed as manager of Ventura FD.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Tucker Tapped to Lead Economic Club

The Economic Club of Memphis has a new executive director.

Laurie Tucker, former senior vice president of marketing for FedEx Services, has been tapped by the club’s board and starts Feb. 27.

Tucker at FedEx led rebranding initiatives and critical go-to-market strategies including “positioning the company as a powerhouse in e-commerce through automation and online solutions,” according to the club.

She also serves on the board for Iron Mountain Inc., the University of Memphis board of visitors, the Fogelman College of Business and Economics executive advisory board and the Blues Foundation. She also has co-founded Calade Partners, a strategy and marketing consultancy.

– Andy Meek

St. George’s Moves Toward Service Goal

Past the halfway mark for the current school year, St. George’s Independent School students, their families and the school’s staff continue toward a goal of 1 million service minutes this school year.

The effort began in August during the school’s in-service faculty training day, when faculty and staff joined fourth and ninth graders in their annual work packing meals for the needy.

Outreach International received the more than 20,000 meals for distribution.

St. George’s does not have a community service requirement for graduation. School leaders say it’s designed to put an emphasis on meaningful contributions instead of hours toward a goal.

– Bill Dries

Trustee Not Accepting American Express

The Shelby County Trustee isn’t accepting payments this tax season made with American Express.

Because of ongoing negotiations between a third-party vendor and American Express, the trustee’s office said it isn’t yet able to process property tax payments using American Express. The reason the trustee’s office is spreading this news is that 2013 tax bills and brochures indicated the office would be able to accept American Express in anticipation of an agreement being signed.

In a statement, county trustee David Lenoir said, “We regret the confusion and inconvenience for Shelby County taxpayers who had planned to make their payments using American Express and have learned they cannot. We made a mistake and I’m sorry. We anticipate having an agreement with American Express in the future but don’t have a firm date at this time.”

Taxpayers can make payments using Visa, Discover and MasterCard credit cards, as well as paper checks, e-checks and cash.

– Andy Meek

Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence Conference Set for May 1

The ninth annual Alliance for Nonprofit Excellence conference will be held Thursday, May 1, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Temple Israel, 1375 E. Massey Road.

The keynote speaker for this year’s event, themed “The Dynamic Power of Networks,” will be Anasuya Sengupta, vice president of grantmaking at the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco.

Early bird registration (by April 1) is $99 for members. After April 1, members pay $120. Nonmembers and walk-up registrants pay $160. College students with valid ID cost $50.

Grizzlies to Give Away Basketballs, Grizz Capes

The first 4,000 fans attending the Saturday, March 1, Grizzlies vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game at FedExForum will receive Grizzlies basketballs. The game has a later start time of 8 p.m.

The local NBA team’s mascot, Grizz, will be celebrating his birthday during the Saturday, March 8, game at FedExForum against the Charlotte Bobcats. The first 3,000 fans will receive a Super Grizz cape with Grizz’s matching mask. Game time is 7 p.m.

– Don Wade

Memphis Makes Final Health Enrollment Push

Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. is turning to soul music, a network of churches and staff at local emergency rooms to urge more African-Americans to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

March 31 is the last day of open enrollment for getting Obamacare for 2014. Wharton, speaking on a conference call arranged by the White House, said the city is making a coordinated final push to get people to enroll in a health plan before the deadline.

Pastors are talking to their congregations, and emergency room workers are telling uninsured patients about new insurance options.

A new ad campaign featuring a reworked version of the Teddy Pendergrass soul hit "Come Go With Me" will urge people to get enrolled.

Wharton says 88,000 Memphians lack insurance.

– The Associated Press

Oil Spill Closes Part of Mississippi River

The Coast Guard says it is conditionally reopening 40 miles of the Mississippi River from New Orleans upriver, but 25 miles remain closed after oil spilled into the river.

Port spokesman Matt Gresham says each vessel's hull must be certified clean of oil before it can move along the reopened stretch.

About 31,500 gallons of light crude oil spilled from a tank barge that hit a towboat on Saturday. The Coast Guard says nobody was hurt and there have not been any reports of oiled wildlife.

The Coast Guard says 29 vessels are waiting for the river to reopen.

The river had been closed from below the Port of New Orleans to Vacherie, nearly 50 miles west of New Orleans. It's now closed from Vacherie to near Hahnville, which is 30 miles from New Orleans.

– The Associated Press

Economists Divided on Timing of Fed Pullback

Business economists are almost equally divided over whether the Federal Reserve will pare its bond purchases at the current pace through year's end or pause to let the economy recover further.

The views were unveiled Monday by the National Association for Business Economics. The NABE conducted its twice-a-year survey of 230 members between Jan. 30 and Feb. 6, before Janet Yellen's first appearance before Congress as Fed chair.

About 43 percent of NABE members said they thought the Fed would complete its pullback in bond purchases in the fourth quarter. About 42 percent said they thought the Fed would finish in 2015 or later.

At each of its last two policy meetings, the Fed cut bond purchases by $10 billion to the current pace of $65 billion a month. There are seven meetings left in 2014. The Fed's bond purchases have been intended to drive down loan rates to stimulate spending and economic growth.

A majority of those surveyed agreed with the Fed's gradual end to its accommodative stance, with 57 percent saying current monetary policy is "about right." About 37 percent thought it was "too stimulative."